Introduction/Background
Women’s Educational Workshops
[pic]
Health 4150:
Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs
By: Candice Carlson, Nina Saadati, Rosa, Portillo, and Sarah Bauch
For: Dr. Patti Cost
Fall Semester 2011
Abstract
The HEALTH Ladies are a group of Weber State University Health Promotion Seniors whose task it was to create a community program plan. They decided to help low-income women by educating them in preventative health measures. They developed a survey to assess the needs of these women, learning that they wanted to learn more about stress management, cooking on a budget and healthy relationships. Each member of the group designed one workshop of the intervention series. Four one-hour interventions were created based on the topics the women noted they wanted to learn more about and were taught in fun and interactive ways, engaging while educating the women. The interventions were conducted at Head Start’s main agency to best access the population that was targeted. Evaluation was conducted at these interventions through survey and exit interviews. Those who attended the workshops found great benefits that they could take home and use. Preventative health is oftentimes overlooked in this population. Low-income people have access to Medicaid, but they are not taught actions to take before they get sick. The HEALTH Ladies set out to provide this to their community and they succeeded.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Head Start for being so welcoming and willing to have us educate their clients. Dr. Donald Carpenter and Laura Traum have been so helpful in organizing, marketing and providing resources. We would have struggled without their aid. We would like to thank Your Community Connection for their desire to also be a partner and have their clients participate in our workshops. Raquel Lee was very helpful in gathering data about the women as well as marketing in the facility. We would like to thank our friends and family who helped and encouraged us through this process. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Patti Cost for her guidance and insight. She showed us how to make our program successful.
Contents
Chapter One 1
Introduction and Background 2
Team Members 3
Biographies 3
Community Based Learning 6
Defined 6
Community Based Research 6
Defined 6
Benefits 6
Community Partners 7
Defined 7
Advantages 7
Disadvantages 8
Process of Building a Community Partner 8
Description of Our Community Partner 9
Statement of the Problem 10
Need for the Intervention 11
Mission Statements 11
Program Philosophy 12
Time Line 12
Definition of Terms 14
Summary 14
Chapter Two 15
Introduction 16
Healthy People 2010 17
Defined 17
Objectives Specific to this Program 18
Health Promotion Programs 18
Defined 18
Planning 19
Implementation 19
Evaluation 20
Our Project 20
Defined 20
Benefits 20
Challenges 21
Health Promotion Planning Models 21
Types of Planning Models 21
Purpose 22
Value 22
Advantages 22
Disadvantages 22
Model Chosen for this Program 23
Defined 23
Application 24
Qualitative Research 24
Defined 24
Developing Qualitative Questions 25
Analyzing Qualitative Research 25
Quantitative Research 25
Defined 25
Developing Qualitative Questions 26
Analyzing Qualitative Research 27
Developing a survey 28
Reliability 28
Validity 28
SMOG 28
CHES competencies 29
Defined 29
How They Relate to This Project 29
Competencies Developed by Doing This Project 29
Types of Evaluation 30
Process 30
Impact 30
Outcome 31
Summary 31
Chapter Three 32
Introduction 33
Program goals 34
Importance of Goals 34
Development of Goals 35
Program Objectives 35
Importance of Program Objectives 35
Developing Objectives 36
Goals and objectives specific to this program 37
Program Goal 37
Program objectives 37
Learning objective 37
Behavioral objective 38
Summary 38
Chapter Four 39
Introduction 40
Choosing our community partner 41
Initial meeting with our community partner 42
Planning model used 42
Application 43
Program Plan 44
Marketing of the Program Plan 44
Advertising 44
Survey development 44
Question Development 45
SMOG 45
Preliminary review 45
Population surveyed 46
Data collection 47
Data analysis 47
Evaluation 48
Purpose 48
Summary 48
Chapter Five 49
Introduction 50
Participant Demographics 51
Data Analysis of surveys 52
Summary 52
Chapter Six 53
Introduction 54
Summary of the whole program 55
Conclusions 57
Recommendations 58
Summary 58
Appendix A 60
Appendix B 63
Appendix C 70
Appendix C 75
Appendix E 82
Appendix F 89
Chapter One
Introduction
Introduction and Background
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. Information about each of these components can be found in this chapter along with a brief biography of each team member, our timeline, mission statement, philosophy, need for the intervention and description of the community partner.
Team Members
Biographies
Candice Carlson is 20 years old. She is a senior attending Weber State University and will be graduating in April of 2012. Her major is in Health Promotion with a minor in Nutrition Education. She chose this major because she believes it is essential to help educate the community about wellness and prevention relating to health behaviors. She believes it is important to educate others about the importance of adopting healthy habits early in life to prevent illness and disease.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Helped create and distribute surveys at the Ogden Rescue Mission.
• Created lesson plan three.
• Helped to fulfill and implement four one-hour interventions.
• Assisted and provided supplies for each intervention.
• Assisted with the planning, preparation, organization, and implementing of each intervention.
• Assisted in the evaluation of each intervention.
• Helped to write and create the program plan.
Nina Saadati was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. She is 21 years old and a Senior attending Weber State University. Nina is majoring in Health Promotion with a minor in Nutrition Education. She is looking forward to helping others with nutrition, exercise, and overall achieving a healthy lifestyle in all aspects of health.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Helped create and distribute surveys at the Ogden Rescue Mission.
• Created lesson plan one.
• Helped to fulfill and implement four one-hour interventions.
• Assisted and provided supplies for each intervention.
• Assisted with the planning, preparation, organization, and implementation of each intervention.
• Assisted in the evaluation of each intervention.
• Helped to write and create the program plan.
Rosa Portillo was raised in Clearfield, Utah. She graduated from Clearfield High School in 2008, and then began her college education at Weber State University. Determined to graduate from the nursing program, she immediately began taking some of the required classes to apply to the program. However, she discovered she did not want to work on treating or curing illnesses, she wanted to help prevent them. Intrigued by the idea of education, during her sophomore year, she changed her major to early childhood education. However, she still had a passion for the health field. The summer before her junior year, she determined that teaching young children was not her true calling. After earning her Associate of Science Degree in 2010, she discovered that there was a middle ground, which is Health Promotion. She plans to graduate in May of 2012 with a Bachelors of Science in Health Promotion.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Helped create and distribute surveys at Head Start.
• Created lesson plan four.
• Helped to fulfill and implement four one-hour interventions.
• Assisted and provide supplies for each intervention.
• Assisted with the planning, preparation, organization, and implementing of each intervention.
• Assisted in the evaluation of each intervention.
• Helped to write and create the program plan.
Sarah Bauch is a Health Promotion Major and a Nutrition Education Minor. She loves the health promotion field and enjoys the freedom it gives her to be creative and teach health in innovative ways. With every class and project completed, she has gained a better understanding and love for the field.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Helped create and distribute surveys at Head Start.
• Created lesson plan two.
• Helped to fulfill and implement four one-hour interventions.
• Assisted and provide supplies for each intervention.
• Assisted with the planning, preparation, organization, and implementation of each intervention.
• Assisted in the evaluation of each intervention.
• Helped to write and create the program plan.
• Designated team leader
• Main communicator with partner
Community Based Learning
Defined
Community Based Learning (CBL) helps students expand their learning possibilities. Through CBL courses, students are able to apply the skills and knowledge gained within the classroom to problems and issues within the community. The advantage of CBL is the application and experience opportunities provided for students throughout each course. These courses help students connect and grow through community services and projects.
Community Based Research
Defined
Community-Based Research enables students to work with faculty members and community leaders. In doing so, students are able to have learning opportunities through their own communities. Students are able to develop research projects, collect data, and analyze data; applying their knowledge from school to their community. At the conclusion of the project, students are able to share their knowledge with their community partners in hopes to create a positive impact. “Community-based research is a partnership of students, faculty and community members who collaboratively engage in research with the purpose of solving a pressing community problem or effecting social change” (Strand, et al, 2003).
Benefits
There are many benefits of this style of learning and research. For instance, students are able to work with professors and community partners and gain support and experience for their future. Community based research also provides students with a sense of self-efficacy as they learn so they have a positive impact on real life challenges, problems, and needs of their community. Students have enhanced problem-solving skills, they have the ability to work in teams, and they learn to combine their abilities to make great programs.
Community Partners
Defined
A community is defined as “a group of people who have common characteristics” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009). According to a partner is “a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor (, 2011). Therefore, a community partner is an association with a group of people who have common characteristics in some action or endeavor.
Advantages
Advantages of community partners are that they may provide funding, materials, and other resources to implement a program. They have personnel on hand to help implement and continue a program. Also, community partners may have already identified a need for a program to be developed.
Disadvantages
A disadvantage of community partners is they may have limited resources. It may also be difficult to coordinate the different needs of the partners. These disadvantages may not be too difficult to overcome, but it’s important to recognize that they do exist.
Process of Building a Community Partner
The first step of the community organizing and building process occurs when an issue existing in the community is recognized and something needs to be done about it. The second step is gaining entry into the community. Sometimes this step is not necessary if the issue is identified by someone in the community. However, someone within the community may not have lived in the community long enough, lacks political power, or does not know enough about the interactions of the community to proceed with the process. The third step is organizing the people. This means obtaining the support of the community members to deal with the issue. The fourth step is assessing the community. This involves community building, which is an orientation to the community that is strength based rather than need based and stresses the identification, nurturing and celebration of community assets. The fifth step is determining priorities and setting goals. There are two phases in the goal setting process. The first phase involves identifying the priorities of the group, or what the group wants to accomplish. The second phase uses the priority list to write goals. The sixth step entails arriving at a solution and selecting intervention strategies. To accomplish the goals that were set, the group will need to identify alternative solutions and choose their course of action. The final steps in the community organizing and building processes consist of implementation of the plan, evaluation of the outcomes, maintaining the outcomes in the community, and, if necessary, looping back to the appropriate point in the process to adjust the steps and restructure the plan (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009).
Description of Our Community Partner
Our main community partner is the Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP) with a focus on the mothers of Head Start children. The goal of OWCAP is not only to help families’ immediate needs, but to help families become self- sufficient. Head Start was founded in 1965 by Lyndon Johnson and aims to serve the poorest of the poor. Attention is focused towards children ages 3-5 from low-income families.
The Head Start program is in almost every county in the country. Head Start in Ogden is part of a Community Action Partnership (CAP) program. CAP programs help low-income families achieve economic security. Ogden’s chapter of this program began the same year as the national Head Start program as a result of concern of the community’s youth. The full budget request for Head Start in fiscal year 2011 is about $8.2 billion which serves over 900,000 children.
The Ogden Head Start program is funded for 703 children; 584 children come from households that make under $2,999, 4 from $3000-5999, 8 from $6000-8999, 7 from $9000-11999, 7 from $12000-14000, and 93 from over $15000. They allow 10 children to enter the program who are over the income; however, these spots are reserved for children who need assistance with disabilities.
Statement of the Problem
The women being served with this program often times do not have insurance or are under insured. The percentage of those who are insured has steadily increased since 2005. In fact, in 2008, 95% of the population was insured (). Many times, those who are insured cannot afford their medical bills. Medicaid is a program that is available for low-income women; however, it is completely reactive meaning it does not concentrate any of their efforts on preventative health matters.
Poverty is something that greatly affects the Ogden area. 20.85% of the population is currently living in poverty (). Information gathered from Head Start reports indicate that over 83% of their clients make less than $3,000. This is obviously not the entire Ogden population; however, it is a significant statistic to keep in mind when working with this demographic. It will determine facets of their transportation, childcare, availability and other factors.
Not only are there poverty issues in the city of Ogden, but there are also several health issues that are more predominate than in the rest of the state of Utah. It is reported that 19% are physically inactive (). This is interesting because inactivity is the root of so many other health disparities. The birth rate of Downtown Ogden is around 110 per 1,000. This is over three times that of the state of Utah (). Other health issues that Ogden struggles with more than the rest of the state include but aren’t limited to: heart disease, cancer, stroke, accidents, chronic respiratory diseases, influenza, pneumonia, diabetes and suicide ().
The basic nature of the demographic, the combination of being low-income and not having access to quality health care, can cause more distress than that of a different group of people. It can be seen that there is a need for health education and preventative measures to be incorporated into these women’s lives. If basic health education is done and preventative measures are taken, there can be dramatic increase in health status in this group.
Need for the Intervention
Many low-income and under-privileged women may not recognize that they are able to be healthy even though they do not have access to quality health care. Medicaid, Medicare, cater to this demographic, but these organizations rarely focus on preventive health. With their interventions, the HEALTH Ladies plan to help these women understand that they are able to take control of their health, both physical and emotional. These women have been surveyed to better understand their perceived and actual needs.
Mission Statements
The mission of Head Start is:
“Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families” ().
The Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership houses and partners with the Head Start program. Their mission in the following:
“Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership inspires those in poverty to become self-sufficient through innovative services and collaborative efforts” ().
We, the HEALTH Ladies, feel it is our mission and responsibility, to instill through education the importance of up keeping health and wellness in the under-privileged and low-income women in our community in order to better the quality of their lives. It is our duty to make preventative health easy, fun and exciting, inspiring those we teach to eagerly incorporate our lessons into their lives.
Program Philosophy
Gandhi said “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”. The HEALTH ladies understand the difficulties that low-income and under-privileged women can face. We recognize their plight of raising a healthy and happy family in the midst of poverty.
The HEALTH Ladies believe:
• Education is the road for the journey of good health.
• We can better the quality of life for the under-privileged women in our community and their children through empowering and educating.
• We can define the way to health and lead the way to wellness.
Time Line
Program Model: GMPP
1) Step One – Needs Assessment
a. Determine the purpose and scope
i. Survey written and ready to go out week of 10/3
b. Gather data
i. Done week of 10/3
c. Analyze data
i. Done 10/3 and 10/13
d. Identify factors linked to the health problems
i. Done 10/3-10/18
e. Identify the program focus
i. Done10/3-10/18
f. Validate the prioritized needs
i. Done 10/18
2) Step Two – Set goals and objectives
a. Done 10/13
3) Step Three – Develop an intervention
a. Done 10/15-11/1
4) Step Four – Implement the intervention
a. First done 11/1
b. Second done 11/9
c. Third done 11/16
d. Fourth done 11/22
5) Step Five – Evaluate the intervention
a. Plan the evaluation
b. Collect the data
c. Analyze the data
d. Report the results
e. Analyze the results
*All evaluation was done directly after each intervention
Definition of Terms
Low-income - The term "low-income individual" means an individual whose family's taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount. Effective January 20, 2011, a family of 4 that makes less than $33,525 is considered low-income (www2.).
Stakeholder – a partner who has invested into the program. A stakeholder may have say in what happens in the program as they have contributed to it.
Summary
The HEALTH Ladies, in summation, desire to help low-income and under-privileged women take control of their health by educating them on preventative measures. The program will help women realize their health potential through a series of 4 workshops which will teach them through hands-on learning and demonstration; providing a comfortable and fun environment in which to discover new and exciting things about health.
Chapter Two
Review of Related Literature
Introduction
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. This chapter contains a literature review and models of successful programs.
Healthy People 2010
Defined
“Healthy People 2010 is a comprehensive set of disease prevention and health promotion objectives for the Nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. Created by scientists both inside and outside of Government, it identifies a wide range of public health priorities and specific, measurable objectives” (Healthy People, 2010).
Objectives Specific to this Program
For the purpose of this program, the following Healthy People 2010 objectives have been identified:
• 1-3 Increase the proportion of persons appropriately counseled about health behaviors.
• 1-4 Increase the proportion of persons who have a specific source of ongoing care.
• 7-12 Increase the proportion of older adults who have participated during the preceding year in at least one organized health promotion activity.
• 10-5 Increase the proportion of consumers who follow key food safety practices.
• 11-2 Increase the health literacy of persons with inadequate or marginal literacy skills.
• 15-34 Reduce the rate of physical assault by current or former intimate partners.
• 19-5 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume at least two daily servings of fruit.
• 19-6 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume at least three daily servings of vegetables, with at least one-third being dark green or orange vegetables.
• 19-7 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume at least six daily servings of grain products, with at least three being whole grains.
• 19-8 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat.
• 19-9 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume no more than 30 percent of calories from total fat.
• 19-10 Increase the proportion of persons aged 2 years and older who consume 2,400 mg or less of sodium daily
Health Promotion Programs
Defined
Health promotion program are action-oriented. They are the process of enabling others to have control of their own health. Health promotion programs are designed to help people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. They improve overall health, reduce health risks, and encourage healthy behaviors of specific populations. The steps of health promotion program consist of planning, implementing, and evaluating.
Planning
The first step of health promotion programs is planning. This is a multi-step process that consists of selecting a program planning model, creating a rationale to gain support of decision makers, creating a planning committee, determining the planning parameters, conducting assessment of needs and gathering data, creating priorities and program focuses, measuring, sampling, testing data, creating a mission statement, program goals, and objectives, reviewing theories, models, and intervention strategies, and designing interventions. (McKenzie, 2009) “To plan is to engage in a process or procedure to develop a method of achieving an end” (Breckon, Harvey, & Lancaster, 1998, P.145).
Implementation
The next step in health promotion programs is implementation. Implementation is the carrying out and putting into practice the activities that make up the intervention. At this point, the planners will set into motion their intervention to meet the needs of the population and fulfill the objectives that were set.
Implementation of a health promotion program consists of identifying personnel, creating a budget and organizing finances, marketing, executing the health promotion program: adoption of the program, identifying and prioritizing the tasks to be completed, establishing a system of management, putting the plans into action, ending or sustaining a program, and working through any problems. (McKenzie, 2009)
Evaluation
Evaluation is the final step in health promotion programs. It is the process of assessing the program’s effectiveness and achievement of objectives. Evaluation of a health promotion program consists of deciding who will conduct the evaluation, considering ethical concerns, pretesting and pilot testing, choosing a design for the evaluation, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting data, creating reports, and understanding and utilizing data in future projects (McKenzie, 2009).
Our Project
Defined
The Health Ladies workshop series was designed to reach the low-income and under privileged women of Ogden Utah. They learned the needs of these women through surveys (Appendix A) given at strategic community partners around the city. The workshops were designed to teach and empower these women so that they may take control of their health through preventative measures. Because of the nature of the demographic, there was a required prerequisite to make the workshops activities no-cost or low-cost so the women can incorporate the lessons into their daily lives.
Benefits
There are many benefits that can come from these workshops including but not limited to: better nutrition, knowing low cost meals (Appendix C), stress management and relaxation techniques (Appendix B and E), and healthy relationships(Appendix D). For these women, most of the healthcare they have access to only involves reactive care. Our workshops want to focus on preventative care. The HEALTH Ladies believe that through the education they are giving these women, preventative care can be a reality.
Challenges
There are some challenges that come with this demographic. Transportation can be difficult for these women, which would affect attendance. Another challenge is child care. Because of strict standards set by Head Start, the HEALTH Ladies had issues figuring out the logistics for this aspect of the workshops. To overcome this obstacle, they had activities for the children in the back of the room. This way, the mothers could focus on the workshops, but not be separated from their children.
Health Promotion Planning Models
Types of Planning Models
There are several different types of planning models that can be used when creating a program. Most follow the general outline of assess, plan, implement and evaluate. Although the models are similar, they may vary in their focus, resources used, stakeholder preferences and sequence. The first created, and perhaps the most well know model, is precede-proceed. This model follows the general outline of assess, plan, implement and evaluate, but it takes into account several different types of assessments and evaluations. Most program models are simpler, but include the four main steps for a successful program. Other types of models include PATCH, MATCH, MAPP, GMPP and SMART.
Purpose
The purpose of models is to guide the program and ensure all necessary steps are being taken. The model acts as a road map in the journey of the program. Models are not meant to limit a program into what they can or cannot do, but they are a guideline to follow and build upon such that the program doesn’t get ahead of itself. The can be used to great effect to lead planners in the right direction.
Value
If used correctly program models help to eliminate any unnecessary work for the planner. Models are valuable in that their purpose is to guide and direct. They act as an advisor to the planner in the program process without saying a word. They are there to consult and give guidance.
Advantages
There are several advantages of planning models. First, they help to keep the program on track and going in the right direction. They also aid in keeping the pace of the program and ensuring that the facilitators don’t get ahead of themselves. Models are used as references and guides for the planner to turn to when moving forward in the planning process.
Disadvantages
A disadvantage of planning models is that they may not be what really happens in the program. They act as guides, but reality may not always be as forgiving in its circumstances. Stakeholders may also have different ideas as to what should happen. In this instance, you have to forgo parts of the model and give into the stakeholders’ requests.
Model Chosen for this Program
Defined
The model chosen for the HEALTH Ladies program is the Generalized Model for Program Planning (GMPP). The GMPP is a representation of the foundation for health promotion planning models. The steps included within the GMPP form a basic summary for planning models. Instead of a formally tested model, the GMPP is a summary of multiple planning models with no known historical perspective. It was created to summarize and provide a basic foundation of the steps to implement in health education and health promotion practices.
The first step of the GMPP is performing a needs assessment of the target population. This helps program planners identify the purpose of the program through gathering and analyzing data in relation to the needs of the target population. The second step is setting goals and objectives specific to the program. The goals of the program should be simple, general statements. The objectives of the program should be precise and measureable. The third step is creating an intervention. This includes planning different activities to help the program reach its goal and objectives. The fourth step is implementing the intervention. This includes putting into practice the planned activities. The last and final step is evaluating the results of the program. This helps program planners know if the goals and objectives of the program were met. It determines how effective the program was.
Application
To apply this model to the HEALTH Ladies program, a survey (Appendix A) was created to perform the first step of the GMPP, assessing the needs of the target population. Surveys were distributed at Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC). The results of the surveys showed a great need for stress management, relaxation techniques, healthy relationships, and cooking on a budget. After finding out the results, goals and objectives were established relating to the needs of the women. The overall goal for the HEALTH Ladies is to educate low-income women in Ogden, Utah about the importance of preventative health measures. The third step was creating the interventions. The interventions created for the HEALTH Ladies program was based off of the needs assessment survey. Two interventions on stress management (Appendix B and E), one intervention on healthy relationships (Appendix D), and one intervention on cooking on a budget (Appendix C) were created. After developing the interventions, they were presented to the low-income women in Ogden, Utah from Head Start and YCC in November of 2011. Evaluations followed the interventions to measure the program’s goals and objectives to determine the effectiveness of the program.
Qualitative Research
Defined
Qualitative research, “focuses on phenomena that occur in natural settings, and involves studying those phenomena in all their complexity” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). This helps to find information that is descriptive. Qualitative research helps researchers understand and interpret various behaviors. Some techniques used to get qualitative results include: focus group interviews, case studies, and in-depth interviews (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009).
Developing Qualitative Questions
Qualitative questions are usually open-ended and relate to “facts, beliefs, perspectives, feelings, motives, present and past behaviors, standards for behavior, and conscious reasons for actions or feelings” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). It is important to note that experiences are based upon memory. Memory may be inaccurate because it can lead to what may have happened, instead of what actually happened. This can make qualitative research difficult.
Analyzing Qualitative Research
Analyzing qualitative data is especially difficult. The data can be organized by using a database on the computer. Some examples include: Excel, word processing, HyperRESEARCH, and DataEase (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). After entering the data into a database it is important to try to get a feel for the data by determining possible interpretations. Next, it is important to determine the major themes, subthemes, categories, and subcategories within the data. This can help researchers decide what the results mean. Lastly, it is important to summarize the conclusions. This can be done through the formation of hypotheses or through different charts and diagrams.
Quantitative Research
Defined
Quantitative research produces numerical data. According to A Dictionary of Nursing (2008), quantitative research is “research based on traditional scientific methods, which generates numerical data and usually seeks to establish causal relationships between two or more variables, using statistical methods to test the strength and significance of the relationships.” Quantitative data is often expressed as statistics, tables, and graphs. Quantitative measures rely on “standardized data collection and reduction techniques, using predetermined questions or observational indicators and established response items” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 112).
Developing Qualitative Questions
As described by Burke Johnson and Larry Christensen from the University of South Alabama (2010), there are three types of questions that can be used in developing quantitative questions. There are descriptive, predictive, and casual questions.
Descriptive questions seek to find how much, how often, or what changes over time or over different situations. When developing a quantitative question, they suggest using the following “script”: “Do(es) (participants) (variable being studied) at (research site)?” Descriptive questions also seek to identify a relationship between two or more variables. According to Johnson and Christensen, the “script” to develop a descriptive relationship question is: “What is the relationship between (variable 1) and (variable 2) for (participants)?”
Predictive questions seek to find if one or more variables can be used to predict a potential result. They suggest using the following “script” to develop a predictive question: “Does (predictor variable) predict (outcome variable) in (setting)?”
Casual questions seek to identify if different variations of one thing are a cause for something else. These questions often involve manipulating the independent variable and comparing the outcome. The “script” Johnson and Christensen suggest using to develop casual questions is: “Does variation (or change) in the (independent variable) produce changes (e.g., increase, decrease) in (a dependent variable)” (Johnson & Christensen, 2010)?
Analyzing Qualitative Research
The authors of Practical Research (2010) note that in order to statistically analyze the information (numbers) gathered through research, the scale of measurement that will be used needs to be determined. The scale being used will dictate how the numbers gathered are relative to one another. There are four scales of measurement are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio data.
Nominal data are “numbers used only to identify different categories of people, objects, or other entities. Nominal data do not reflect a particular quantity or degree of something.” Ordinal data are “the assigned numbers that reflect an order or sequence.” Ordinal data indicates the degree to which a variable has a certain feature of relevance. Interval data indicate standard and equal units of measurement. Interval data can be used to determine “how much difference exists in the characteristic being measured.” Ratio data are like interval data, but have a true zero point. With ratio data, a zero value indicates a total absence of a particular feature (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010, p. 262).
According to toolkit. (2011), once a scale a measurement has been determined, results should be tabulated for different variables. This process will help identify patterns within the data. Next, descriptive statistics are used to “describe” the data. Commonly used descriptive are mean, median, mode, and maximum and minimum values. A mean represents a “numerical average.” A median reflects a “numerical middle point.” A mode is “the most common number score.” Maximum and minimum values are “the highest and lowest value for a particular variable.” After that data has been described, it can be disaggregated “across different variables and subcategories of variables.” Lastly, advanced analytical methods are used to interpret the results of the data. Some examples of these methods are correlation, regression, analysis of variance. “This type of analysis generally requires computer software and a solid understanding of statistics to interpret the results” (The Pell Institute, 2011).
Developing a survey
Reliability
Reliability “is an empirical estimate of the extent to which an instrument produces the same result (measure or score), applied once or two or more times” (Windsor, Clark, Boyd, & Goodman, 2004, p. 93). Reliability refers to consistency. It is when the same results are produced numerous times, but nothing will be able to provide perfect accuracy. Reliability is the repeatability of your measurement. It is not always measured, but more so estimated (McKenzie, 2009).
Validity
Validity refers to what is being measured is correctly measuring the concepts it is intended to measure. In other words, validity is measuring the “concepts under investigation.” “Using a valid instrument increases the chance that planners/evaluators are measuring what they want to measure, thus ruling out other possible explanations for the results” (McKenzie, 2009).
SMOG
Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) is a test to check the reading level of the written materials. SMOG consists of several steps to analyze printed materials. First all of the words that are polysyllabic words are counted. Second, the total number of total sentences is counted. Next, the total number of polysyllabic words is divided by the total number of sentences in the sample. This number is used to look up the approximate grade level. The SMOG test is a quick and easy way to design printed materials to the reading level of the targeted population (McKenzie¸ 2009).
CHES competencies
Defined
Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) competencies are qualities that all Health Educators should strive to achieve to the highest degree. There are seven competencies total. They are the following: assess needs, assists and capacity for Health Education; plan health education; implement health education; conduct evaluation and research related to health education; administer and manage health education; serve as a health resource person; communicate and advocate for health and health education.
How They Relate to This Project
CHES competencies relate to this project because they are required to successfully carry out any program. The competencies are in place because they are proven to be effective. The CHES competencies are what all health promoters need to do to be successful in their field.
Competencies Developed by Doing This Project
All seven competencies were developed during this project to some extent. The HEALTH Ladies have assessed, planned, implemented, and evaluated their program. They acted as a resource as much as possible, administered health education and advocated for health to the participants of the program.
Types of Evaluation
Process
Process evaluation takes place during the implementation of the program. It is defined as “any combination of measurements obtained during the implementation of program activities to control, assure, or improve the quality of performance or delivery” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 339). This is usually done by asking participants questions about their experience. This includes gathering “reactions from program participants about the times programs were offered, or about program speakers” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 339). This information could be collected using short surveys or focus groups.
Impact
Impact evaluation is defined as an evaluation that “focuses on the immediate observable effects of a program (e.g., awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, environment, and behaviors) leading to the intended outcomes of a program” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 414). This type of evaluation helps to determine whether or not your program is effective. If results from this evaluation indicate that your program needs to be more interactive, you have the opportunity to change that for the next activity or intervention.
Outcome
Outcome evaluation “focuses on the end result of a program generally measured by improvements in mortality, morbidity, or vital measures of symptoms, signs, or physiological indicators” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 414). This type of evaluation is usually “long-term and takes more time and resources to conduct” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009, p. 339). It is the final evaluation of all the hard work you put into the program.
Summary
In summary, the HEALTH Ladies have decided to use the MAPP program model to act as the back bone to their program plan. They are incorporating all 7 of the CHES competencies in order to be efficient Health Educators. The preliminary data collected from the surveys was quantitative whereas the information gathered at the workshops was qualitative. Gathering this data will be used as a process and impact evaluations to better future workshops.
Chapter Three
Goals and Objectives for This Program
Introduction
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. The goals and objectives that the HEALTH Ladies want to accomplish with their program are covered in this chapter.
Program goals
Importance of Goals
Program goals are of great importance within a health promotion program. A goal is defined as, “a broad timeless statement of a long-range program purpose” (Mckenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009). Goals provide the expectations and accomplishments the program planners seek. They provide a structure that helps assist with the planning, implementing, and evaluating process of each intervention. The foundation of the program is created with each program goal.
Development of Goals
Program goals should be developed as simple, clear, general statements. Each program goal needs to include two important components. The first component should include who will be impacted by the program, your target population. The second component should include the changes that will occur from the implementation of the program. When writing program goals it is important to remember the following guidelines. Goals are:
• Global and encompassing.
• Include each portion of the program.
• Provide direction for the program.
• More general in nature.
• Take longer to accomplish.
• Do not include a deadline.
• Must be inferred.
• Not measurable in exact terms.
(Mckenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009)
Program Objectives
Importance of Program Objectives
Program objectives are also of great importance in health promotion programs. Objectives outline the stages to help reach the overarching goal of the program. Objectives state the exact changes that the program is hoping to accomplish within the targeted population. It is essential that program planners develop specific objectives for each program. Objectives help determine how effective the overall program was. “Objectives are crucial. They form a fulcrum, converting diagnostic data into program direction and resource allocation over time” (McKenzie, Neiger,& Thackeray, 2009).
Developing Objectives
Developing program objectives is an important skill for program planners to possess. Program objectives are developed according to different levels. The different levels include process or administrative, learning, action or behavioral, environmental, and outcome or program objectives. Process or administrative objectives should be developed by showing “activities were presented and tasks were completed” (McKenzie, Neiger,& Thackeray, 2009). Learning objectives should include a “change in awareness, knowledge, attitude, behavior or skill” (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009). Action or behavioral objectives should include a behavior change. Environmental objectives should include an environmental change, and outcome or program objectives should include changes in the health of participants. Each program does not need to include each level of objective.
When developing objectives these criteria need to be addressed.
• Can the objective be achieved?
• Does the program have the resources they need available to them?
• Do the objectives violate rights of participants?
• Are the objectives aligned with the company’s policies are procedures?
• Can the objective be realized during the program?
(McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009)
Goals and objectives specific to this program
The HEALTH Ladies defined their goals and objectives based on their populations needs and survey results. The following are the primary goal and several objectives they wish to accomplish with their program.
Program Goal
The overarching goal of the HEALTH Ladies is to educate the low-income women in Ogden about preventative health measures.
Program objectives
At the education series workshops, the HEALTH Ladies will educate participants on a variety of health issues through demonstration and interactive learning.
At the education series workshops, the HEALTH Ladies will teach participants about resources in the community for additional educational and participation opportunities.
Learning objective
After the workshops, participants of the HEALTH Ladies health education series will know how make easy, but impactful, health choices in their daily lives.
After the workshops, participants of the HEALTH Ladies workshop series will recognize resources in their community from which they can gain further help and understand on a variety of issues.
Behavioral objective
At workshops presented by the HEALTH Ladies, attendees will participate and understand through demonstration how preventative health measures can benefit their lives.
At the education series by the HEALTH Ladies, attendees will participate in several activities to better understand the concepts taught at the workshops.
Summary
Setting goals and objectives for a program should be a top priority for and planner. Goals and objectives give of the focus of the program and allow planners to have something measurable to gauge their progress. The HEALTH Ladies chose their goals and objectives based on the survey results they attained during the assessment stage of the GMPP planning model.
Chapter Four
Methods
Introduction
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. Information about our community partner and the methods used to assess, plan and implement out program are contained in this chapter.
Choosing our community partner
Choosing the community partner was based on perceived need and access to resources. The HEALTH Ladies are well aware that there are needs in the community. Head Start was chosen as a partner because of the access to the community and the resources that it provided. YCC is a partner of Head Start and was another great choice for being able to reach a high number of the target demographic.
Initial meeting with our community partner
Because of the personal connection members of the HEALTH Ladies have with their partners, the initial meeting went smoothly. It was, of course, necessary to discuss the details and nature of the program and allow the partners to give their input. The initial meeting was a great time to get a feel for what has worked for the partner in the past in regards to attendance and anticipated participation. It was also a good time to see what resources were available for them to use for the workshops. The overall sentiment given to the HEALTH Ladies program was excitement and high hopes that it would work out well. Both Head Start and the YCC were grateful that they were approached about the workshops and were fully onboard with the program.
Planning model used
The model chosen for the program is the Generalized Model for Program Planning (GMPP). The GMPP is a representation of the foundation for health promotion planning models. The steps included within the GMPP form a basic summary for planning models. Instead of a formally tested model, the GMPP is a summary of multiple planning models with no known historical perspective. It was created to summarize and provide a basic foundation of the steps to implement in health education and health promotion practices.
The first step of the GMPP is performing a needs assessment of the target population. This helps program planners identify the purpose of the program, and can help them gather and analyze data in relation to the needs of the target population. The second step is setting goals and objectives specific to the program. The goals of the program should be simple, general statements. The objectives of the program should be precise and measureable. The third step is creating an intervention. This includes planning different activities to help the program reach its goal and objectives. The fourth step is implementing the intervention. This includes actually putting into practice the planned activities. The last and final step is evaluating the results of the program. This helps program planners know if the goals and objectives of the program were met. It also helps to determine the effectiveness of the program.
Application
To apply this model to the HEALTH Ladies program, a survey (Appendix A) was created to perform the first step of the GMPP, assessing the needs of the target population. Surveys were distributed and completed at Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC). The results of the surveys showed a great need for stress management, relaxation techniques, healthy relationships, and cooking on a budget. After finding out the results, goals and objectives were established relating to the program. The overall goal for the HEALTH Ladies is to educate low-income women in Ogden, Utah about the importance of preventative health measures. The third step was creating the interventions. The interventions created for the HEALTH Ladies program was based off of the needs assessment survey. Two interventions on stress management, one intervention on healthy relationships, and one intervention on cooking on a budget were created. After developing the interventions, they were presented to low-income women in Ogden, Utah from Head Start and YCC in November of 2011. Following the interventions, an evaluation was done to measure the program’s goals and objectives. This helped determine the effectiveness of the program.
Program Plan
The Health Ladies program plan is to provide low-income women of the Ogden, Utah community an opportunity to participate in workshops which will educate them in preventative health measures. Through survey (Appendix A), it was better understood what the women of this demographic recognized as their real or perceived health needs. Stress management and relaxation was the highest rated result in the survey. This was followed by cooking on a budget and healthy relationships. The HEALTH Ladies put together workshops that would help the women learn about these topics and incorporate the lessons into a lifestyle. They workshops were designed to be very interactive and personal. Learning comes from doing and interacting, not just listening.
Marketing of the Program Plan
Advertising
To advertise for the workshops, the HEALTH Ladies sent out flyers to each family at Head Start and gave flyers to the YCC to post where they thought appropriate. Small posters were also made to remind the Head Start mothers of the upcoming events. Fortunately, the teachers and family advocated of Head Start were willing to encourage their families to attend events held at the agency.
Survey development
In order to better understand the needs of our target population a Women’s Health survey (Appendix A) was developed. We used the survey to gather information about the individuals’ employment status, age, level of education and the number of children each individual had. In addition, the survey asked for input on the type of workshops the participants would be willing to attend. Exit interviews were conducted to determine if participants found our workshops useful. Also, because the majority of the population is Hispanic, the surveys were translated into Spanish by one of the team members who speaks Spanish fluently.
Question Development
The HEALTH Ladies created their survey to better understand the women that they were going to serve. The questions on the survey asked demographic and socioeconomic questions along with questions about what they would like to learn. Age, employment, highest level of education completed, number of children, if they would attend the workshops and if they needed childcare to attend (Appendix A).
SMOG
A survey was developed to determine the needs of the target population, low-income and under-privileged women. Before conducting this survey a SMOG readability test was preformed. After assessing the number of polysyllabic words in the survey, it was found that there were 12 of them. Next, the number 12 was rated on the SMOG readability test to determine the approximate reading level. The grade level was sixth grade, which was an adequate reading level for the target population.
Preliminary review
In Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs, a preliminary review was accomplished by Dr. Patti Cost and classmates. The surveys, flyers, lesson plans, and emails were all examined and corrected. Suggestions and recommendations were also given for each aspect of the program within each preliminary review. Each preliminary review helped make each piece of the program clear and concise.
Population surveyed
The survey results allowed the HEALTH Ladies to better understand their demographic. The following are the outcomes of the survey analysis from both Head Start and YCC:
Ages: 15-18 19-25 26-34 35-45 46 and up
2 18 32 25 12
Education: Some High School =22 High school graduate =25
Some college =25 College graduate = 8
Employment Yes = 17 No = 71
Children Yes = 83 No = 6
Number of children: Women who have that many children:
1 15
2 21
3 21
4 14
5 3
6 1
7 2
8 2
11 1
Would they attend Yes = 70 No = 11
Do they need child care Yes = 55 No = 29
Topics with most interest rated 1st to last
1) Stress and relaxation=52
2) Money management=38
3) Cooking on a budget = 37
4) Healthy relationships = 36
5) Healthy eating = 33
6) Exercise = 32
7) Self-esteem = 22
8) Personal health = 9
9) Sexual health = 9
10) Birth control = 2
Data collection
Data collection was done through survey (Appendix A) at both Head Start and YCC. The survey conducted asked a variety of questions to better gage the population served. Staff at YCC handed out the surveys while members of the HEALTH Ladies targeted Head Start for a few hours to get a sample.
Data analysis
Analyzing the data was done through counting the survey results. There were about 100 surveys total from both YCC and Head Start, so analysis didn’t take too long. A results log was started in which tic marks accounted for each answer on the surveys. SPSS and Excel would also be acceptable mean of data analysis.
Evaluation
The Women’s Health survey and the exit interviews allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of the HEALTH Ladies program. The type of evaluation we used was a process evaluation. As we concluded each workshop, we asked participants for their reactions in regards to the workshop. With the results of the women’s health survey, we strived to provide effective workshops, serve as a resource, and increase the knowledge of our participants.
Purpose
The program was evaluated to determine the strengths and limitations of each intervention. This helped determine what changes could be made in the future to increase the effectiveness of the program. It also helped to determine what aspects of the program were successful and should be continued in the future. Evaluation of the program let participants share thoughts, suggestions, and recommendations for the program.
Summary
The HEALTH Ladies assessed, planned, implemented and evaluated their health program; catering it to the specific needs of their target population. They created a survey, used SMOG to ensure the readability of their written materials, and analyzed the information they collected to create the most effective program for their population.
Chapter Five
Results
Introduction
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. The results of the workshops and the demographics of the participants are contained within this chapter.
Participant Demographics
We had five participants for our workshops. Three were unemployed and two were employees of Head Start. The participants had heard about the workshops from word of mouth or the flyers sent home. Their ages ranged from 26-36. Most were Hispanic, but two were white. This was our target demographic, so we were excited to be able to reach this group.
Data Analysis of surveys
Because the number of participants was so small, the data analysis of the surveys was quite simple. We counted and recorded the answer on each survey question to get our results. Each participant was also interviewed after as an exit interview for the workshop.
Summary
Most of the women who attended the workshops were within the target demographic. Because a participant survey was done and exit interviews were done, the HEALTH Ladies could properly evaluate their program. Process and program evaluations were done to ensure the effectiveness of the program and to make any changes needed along the way.
Chapter Six
Summary, Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations
Introduction
The HEALTH Ladies are Weber State University Seniors studying Health Promotion and are currently taking Health 4150: Needs Assessment and Planning Health Promotion Programs taught by Dr. Patti Cost. As Health Promotion students, we want to educate and increase awareness about health. By doing so, we hope to help others improve their overall health and quality of life. This class has given us the opportunity to develop a purposeful community service program based on the needs of the community. A partnership was established with Head Start and Your Community Connection (YCC); developing interventions related to the needs of low-income women in the community. Four interventions were planned, implemented and evaluated to help educate low-income women about a variety of health topics.
Head Start began in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help low-income children be school ready and reach their fullest potential (aspe.). It is a preschool devoted to help those in poverty give their children a head start in school by providing them with education and resources to which they would not normally have access. Head Start is a part of a larger organization called Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP). This program is a community based program designed to help those in need. The women of Head Start are in poverty and have access to reactive care such as Medicaid and Medicare, but the HEALTH Ladies recognized a need for proactive health care through education. Reports ran at Head Start tell us that these women come from households that make less than $15,000 per year, most of them making less than $3,000. These women mainly live in the down-town region of the city, low income housing or homeless shelters. After conducting surveys (Appendix A), we know that low-income women often face difficulties with nutrition (Appendix C), relationships (Appendix D), and stress (Appendix B and E). They are often times not given the resources to make healthy foods or don’t know what to make. They may be in relationships that are unhealthy or looking to improve their current relationships. Finally, because of their current status, they are stressed about money, children, work and life.
The HEALTH Ladies are determined and excited to have been given the opportunity to educate these women on these topics to better the quality of their lives. They conducted a needs assessment survey (Appendix A) to gather information on the perceived and actual needs of these women. Based on the survey results, four workshops were created to address the needs identified. From the workshops, it is the hope that lifestyle changes will be made from knowledge gained in those areas of health.
The success of our community program was dependent on what was learned about a variety of components relating to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. These components include: community based learning, community based research, and community partnership. This chapter is a summary of the whole program and includes recommendations and discussion.
Summary of the whole program
Low income individuals have very few resources available to them. Many of these individuals do not know how or where to look for resources when they wish to take preventative measures or improve their health. No program had been developed to serve as a resource for preventative measures for the mothers of the children at Head Start. This being the case, the HEALTH Ladies developed a program with a four workshop series to serve as a resource, and educate the women.
The HEALTH Ladies program was developed based on our initial survey results. The respondents identified key areas they would be interested in learning more about. These areas included stress and relaxation, cooking on a budget, and healthy relationships. Each workshop was approximately forty-five minutes long. The first workshop was on stress and relaxation (Appendix B). The workshop began with participants making stress balls while learning what stress is. In addition, they were educated on the negative effects of stress. Participants were taught simple self-assessment techniques to help identify if they were feeling stressed. Next, participants engaged in a gratitude activity, where the discussed what they were thankful for. Lastly they participated in a relaxation technique called Guided Imagery.
Unfortunately, due to lack of attendance, our second workshop of cooking on a budget (Appendix C) was not implemented. However, a lesson plan was developed to demonstrate how to make the most out of cheap food and stick to a budget when preparing healthy meals. The lesson plan also included information about how to use different spices to add more variety to meals. In addition, an activity was planned that allowed participants to smell an unidentified seasoning and guess what seasoning it was.
Our third lesson plan was on healthy relationships (Appendix D). During this workshop, participants engaged in an activity where they were to imagine a funeral scenario. The purpose of this activity was for participants to identify their values and to help determine what is truly important to them. Participants were also allowed to brainstorm ideas of what characteristics of a health relationship are. They then developed a recipe for a healthy relationship based on those characteristics. We also educated participants on what the characteristics of an unhealthy relationship are. Next we asked participants to identify and list what signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships are between romantic, parent to child, teacher to student, and friend to friend relationships. We concluded the activity with a quiz to determine what each participant’s love language was and discussed each of the five love languages.
Our final workshop was another on stress and relaxation (Appendix E). During this workshop, participants were informed of the benefits of using relaxation techniques. They then engaged in an activity where they identified what made them happy, feel calm, feel relaxed, have fun, what they enjoyed, and what they used their free time for. In addition, participants learned a simple self-massage technique to help them relax. Participants also practiced visualization where they were asked to imagine a setting that was most relaxing. In order to recall that relaxing setting, participants were asked to describe that setting with as much detail as possible. Lastly, participants practiced mantra meditation which allowed them to calm down and relax.
The main goal of the HEALTH Ladies program was to educate the women on how to use preventative measures to live and stay healthy. The program was implemented once a week, for four weeks, during the month of November 2011. Each participant was able to actively engage in the activities during our workshops and learn how to effectively use the information.
Conclusions
It could be said that those who attended the workshops benefited from the materials with which they were presented. The materials taught targeted the population’s needs and those who attended enjoyed the information presented to them. The presentations were also given with their specific demographic in mind. They contained easy to do activities that participant do in their own home with no cost. The HEALTH Ladies understand the difficulties that low-income women can face and they presented the women with solutions they could easily access and take part. Overall the HEALTH Ladies provided a great service to those who attended the workshops by imparting preventative health measures to them to better the quality of their lives.
Recommendations
• If child-care is provided, make sure to have child-care volunteers get a background check in advance. Head Start requires that volunteers watching children have a background check.
• Make a question on the survey about availability. Make sure the times at which the workshops are going to the given are good time for the potential participants.
• Make sure to advertise each intervention as much as possible. Send notes home with the parents at Head Start, hang flyers on the doors, bulletin boards, and classrooms of Head Start and YCC. Be sure to make posters to advertise each intervention at both buildings and have teachers at Head Start encourage the women to attend.
• Make sure enough notice is given for each intervention.
Summary
Overall, the HEALTH Ladies had wonderful workshops for the low-income women they wanted to serve. Attendance could have been better, but measures were taken to improve participant numbers. Recommendations for continuing the program have been listed, although, each program following this one will be different. The program workshops that were given targeted the real and perceived needs of the demographic and engaged them in learning about preventative health matters that would directly affect their lives.
Appendix A
HEALTH Ladies
Women’s Health Survey
Instructions: Please read each question and circle the answer that best applies to you. The results are confidential, so please don’t put your name on this form.
1. How old are you?
15-18 19-25 26-34 35-45 46 or older
2. How much schooling have you completed?
Some high school High school graduate
Some college College graduate
3. Are you currently employed? Yes No
If you circled yes, What kind of work to you do? ____________________________
4. Do you have children? Yes No
If you circled yes, how many?___________________
Head Start would like to offer you four workshops. Circle the four topics you are most interested in.
Birth Control
Cooking on a budget
Eating Healthy
Exercise
Healthy Relationships
Money Management
Personal Care
Sexual Health
Self-esteem
Stress and Relaxation
Other: ___________________________________________________________
If Head Start offered health workshops, would you attend? Yes No
Would you need child care to attend these workshops? Yes No
Thank you for completing this survey!
Encuesta de la Salud de la Mujer
Instrucciones: Por favor, haga un círculo la respuesta que mejor se aplica a usted.
1. ¿Cuántos años tiene?
15-18 19-25 26-34 35-45 46 ó Mas
2. ¿Cuántos años escolarios ha completado?
Algunos años de la Secundaria Graduado de la Secundaria
Algunos años de la Universidad Graduado de la Universidad
3. ¿Está usted en le momento empleado?
Si No
4. ¿Tiene hijos?
Si No
Instrucciones: Por favor, haga un círculo en los cuatro mejores temas sobre salud de la mujer que le gustaría aprender más acerca de.
Cocinando con un presupuesto Ejercicio Salud Sexual
Estrés y Relajación Autodefensa Alimentación Saludable
Autoestima Administración de Dinero Control de Peso
Métodos Anticonceptivos Cuidado Personal Ayuda para Dejar de Fumar
Otros:___________________________________________________________________
Si Head Start ofrece talleres de salud, le asisten? Si No
Se necesita cuidado de niños para asistir a estos talleres? Si No
Gracias por completar esta encuesta!
Appendix B
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Stress Relief
Women’s Health Workshop 1
Nina Saadati, Candice Carlson, Sarah Bauch, Rosa Portillo
Activity 1: Background Information
Time: 10 minutes
Supplies: funnels, flour, balloons, and buckets
Purpose: For participants to gain knowledge about stress and have a way to release their stress through the stress balls.
Directions:
Talk to participants about what stress is, the top stressors, symptoms of stress, and health problems due to stress.
What is Stress: “Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response.
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.” (Understanding Stress)
Top Stressors:
External:
• Major life changes
• Work
• Relationship difficulties
• Financial problems
• Being too busy
• Children and family
Internal:
• Inability to accept uncertainty
• Pessimism
• Negative self-talk
• Unrealistic expectations
• Perfectionism
• Lack of assertiveness
(Understanding Stress)
Symptoms of Stress:
Cognitive Symptoms:
• Memory problems
• Inability to concentrate
• Poor judgment
• Seeing only the negative
• Anxious or racing thoughts
• Constant worrying
Emotional Symptoms:
• Moodiness
• Irritability or short temper
• Agitation, inability to relax
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Sense of loneliness and isolation
• Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms:
• Aches and pains
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Nausea, dizziness
• Chest pain, rapid heartbeat
• Loss of sex drive
• Frequent colds
Behavioral Symptoms
• Eating more or less
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Isolating yourself from others
• Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
• Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
• Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
(Understanding Stress)
Health Problems:
• Acid Peptic Disease
• Alcoholism
• Asthma
• Fatigue
• Tension Headache
• Hypertension
• Insomnia
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Ischemic Heart Disease
• Psychoneuroses
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Pain of any kind
• Heart disease
• Digestive problems
• Sleep problems
• Depression
• Obesity
• Autoimmune diseases
• Skin conditions, such as eczema
(Understanding Stress), (Less Stress)
During the discussion about stress, participants will be making stress balls using balloons and sand.
Have participants sit at a table with balloons, flour, buckets, and funnels. Using the funnels, the participants can pour the flour into the balloons while having the buckets underneath it, creating a stress ball.
Activity 2: Self-Assessment
Supplies:
• chair,
• watch or clock with second hand,
• paper
• pencil
Purpose: For participants to be able to asses their own stress levels.
Directions:
First, have participants sit and relax in a chair for at least 30 seconds. Participants need to find their pulse on wrist or neck for 60 seconds. Then they need to write down the number of beats they feel on the piece of paper.
Next, have participants place one hand on their stomach and the other on their chest above their heart. Have them take breaths for another 30 seconds, being aware of what hand moves more. Then have participants write either abdomen chest or both on their paper based on which one moved more.
Third, have participants count how many natural breaths they take within a minute (respiration rate) and write it down.
Finally, participants are ready to assess their stress.
Average heart rate: 70-80
Average respiration rate: 12-16
Faster rates could be an indicator of higher-than-desired stress levels.
Chest breathing: chronic activation of stress response, shallower, quicker breaths
Abdominal breathing: slows nervous system, deeper breathing creates more oxygen
(Olpin, 2010)
Activity 3: Gratitude
Time: 10 minutes
Supplies:
• Paper
• Markers
Purpose: For participants to be able to realize what they are thankful and the positive things in their lives.
Directions:
Paper will be out in the tables the participants are sitting at. There will also be an assortment of different colored markers. Each participant will take turns in writing five things that they are thankful for. They may also include other things such as the people in their lives they love or things that make them laugh.
Activity 4: Guided Imagery
Time: 15 minutes
Supplies:
• Stress Relief CD
• CD player
Purpose: For participants to practice guided imagery as a relaxation technique and be able to relax.
Directions:
Talk with the participants about what guided imagery is and the benefits of it.
Guided Imagery:
Guided imagery, sometimes known as "visualization," is a technique in which a person imagines pictures, sounds, smells, and other sensations associated with reaching a goal. Imagining being in a certain environment or situation can activate the senses, producing a physical or psychological effect. (Olpin, 2010)
Benefits:
• Improve performance skills
• Improve confidence and positive thinking
• Problem solving
• Control anxiety
• Reduce depression
• Increase number of immune system cells
(Less Stress)
Have participants sit comfortably in a chair or lie down on the floor and close their eyes. The lights should be turned off to help with relaxation. Jewelry can be taken off and tight clothing should be loosened. Next, the Mountain Lake guided imagery from Michael Olpin’s Stress Relief CD is played.
Work Cited
Olpin, M. (2010). Stress management for life. (2 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
Diseases cause by stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from
caused-by-stress.htm
Understanding stress symptoms, signs, sauses, and effects. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Appendix C
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Cooking on a Budget
Women’s Health Workshop 2
Nina Saadati, Candice Carlson, Sarah Bauch, Rosa Portillo
Goal: The HEALTH Ladies will teach participants how to cook on a budget.
Learning Objective: After the workshop, participants will know how to get the most out of their grocery budget.
Behavioral Objective: At the workshop, 50% of the women will participate in making a meal plan.
Program Objective: At the workshop, the HEALTH Ladies will demonstrate and explain how to make money go farther when making food.
1. Ice breaker – demonstrate cheap and tasty food while we discuss current issues with making meals – Candice to start discussion; Sarah to make the food
a. Time - 10 minutes
b. Supplies:
i. Recipe
ii. Ingredients
iii. Cookware
c. Instructions
i. Cooking demo and WIC discussion
ii. Make food and talk about cooking at home instead of going out
d. Questions to ask to start conversation
i. How often do you eat out instead of make dinner? Why?
ii. Does anyone think making dinner is difficult with kids? Why?
iii. What are some difficulties that you run into when trying to plan meals?
2. Meal Planning - How can you make your groceries go their farthest
a. Time
i. 15 minutes
b. Supplies
i. Pens
ii. Food lists
iii. Calendar
c. Instructions
i. Have participants make a meal calendar to use their groceries to their greatest potential
1. Start with a meat or protein
2. Add veggies
3. Add grain
ii. Have participants start with Monday
iii. Fill out the calendar with recipes that will use ingredients through out the week
iv. Learn meals that will be effective as starters of other meals in other meals during the week.
v. Explain that planning meals will make dinner prep and creation easier, cheaper, and faster
3. Seasonings – spicing up foods to get rid of boredom
a. Time – 15 minutes
b. Supplies
i. Seasonings
ii. Types of cuisines
c. Directions:
i. Smell and guess what the seasoning is
ii. Associate the seasoning cultural meal
iii. Explain how small changes in you foods can take bland to bold in the kitchen.
d. Questions to ask to start conversation
i. Do you like the way it smells?
ii. What does it remind you of?
iii. What foods do you think it would taste good with?
4. Make it cheaper…make it healthier
a. Time – 5 minutes
b. Supplies
i. none
c. Directions
i. Ask participants to list one of their favorite meals to make
ii. Ask if they want to make it cheaper or healthier
iii. Provide solutions to their request
5. Tables in the back
a. WIC
b. Recipes
c. Cheap ways to pinch pennies on groceries
d. Easy kids meals
Works cited:
Appendix C
Healthy Relationships
Women’s Health Workshop 3
Candice Carlson, Nina Saadati, Rosa Portillo, Sarah Bauch
Icebreaker: Funeral Scenario
Time: 5 minutes
Supplies: Paper, pencils, pens
Purpose: For participants to realize their values and determine what is important to them.
Directions:
Have participants close their eyes while you read the following scenario. Have them imagine the scenario.
Imagine yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the funeral parlor or chapel, parking the car, and getting out. As you walk inside the building, you notice the flowers and the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the way. You feel the sense of sorrow that permeates the room for losing this special person. You also sense the shared joy of having known this person that radiates from the hearts of all the people there.
As you walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself. This is your funeral and all these people have come to honor you. They are here to express their feelings of love and appreciation for your life.
As you take a seat and wait for the services to begin, you look at the program in your hand. There are to be four speakers. The first speaker in someone from your immediate family – perhaps your mom or dad, brother or sister, or an aunt or uncle. The second speaker is one of your best friends, someone who is going to tell about the kind of person you were. The third speaker is from your work or an instructor in your school. The fourth is someone from your church or community organization where you have been involved in service.
Now think deeply. What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of son or daughter would you like their words to reflect? What kind of friend would you like to have others say you were? Were you there for others when they needed you? Did you care for them, trust them, and have a deep respect for them? What would your best friend say about you at your own funeral? What about someone who is a neighbor, but doesn’t know you very well? What contributions would you like them to have said you made to other people’s lives? What achievements would you want them to remember?
Have participants write down their thoughts and values after imagining the scenario. Discuss and share.
Activity 1: Healthy Relationships
Time: 10 minutes
Supplies: Markers, Whiteboard
Purpose: To have participants discuss and share what is important to them in a relationship. Participants will learn signs of a healthy relationship.
Directions:
Ask participants what is important to them in a relationship and why. Discuss and write on whiteboard.
Examples include:
Acceptance Communication Compromise Maturity
Admiration Love Sex Trust
Appreciation Patience Passion Honesty
Balance Gratitude Forgiveness Family
Caring Friendship Warmth Stability
Commitment Responsibility Fun Liveliness
Discuss signs of a healthy relationship:
• Feeling secure when alone or when you are together. You do not feel angry, deprived, sad, or suspicious.
• Help and inspire one another to achieve goals and dreams.
• Show generosity and give all you can in your relationship. This inspires you to help and give to others all around you.
Discuss how to have a successful relationship.
• Communicate with one another.
• Learn and grow from each other.
• Be supportive and kind towards each other.
• Laugh and have fun.
• Be honest and loyal.
• Admit when you have made a mistake.
• Forgive.
• Don’t bring up previous relationships
• Be willing to negotiate and compromise.
• Share with each other what your needs are.
• Understand that a partner cannot fulfill every need.
• Don’t expect a partner to change to fulfill your expectations, accept that your ideal partner is different from the person you are dating.
• See other point of views.
• Get professional help sooner rather than later.
Activity 2: Recipe for a Healthy Relationship
Time: 15 minutes
Supplies: paper, pencils, pens
Purpose: Have participants create a recipe based upon their needs in a relationship.
Directions:
Have each participant come up with a healthy relationship recipe. Have participants think about the “ingredients” they would include and how much they need. Decorate and share.
Example includes: 5 cups of honesty, a pinch of trust, a teaspoon of laughter.
Activity 3: Unhealthy Relationships
Time: 5 minutes
Supplies: None
Purpose: Help participants recognize the signs of an unhealthy and abusive relationship.
Directions:
Discuss signs of an unhealthy relationship
• Feeling insecure around each other.
• Have low self-esteem
• Dishonesty
• Lack of trust.
• Complaining to others about your relationship.
• Unable to resolve differences.
• Feel hurt about how you treat each other.
• Can’t talk about problems with one another. Can’t solve problems together.
• Conflicts interfere with other aspects of life.
• Broken trust.
Signs of an Abusive Relationship:
1) Jealousy
2) Controlling behaviors
3) Isolation
4) Threats of violence
5) Verbal abuse
6) Blaming others for mistakes or problems
7) Unrealistic expectations
8) Past battering
9) Hypersensitivity
10) Cruelty to children or animals
Activity 4: Group Activity
Time: 10 minutes
Supplies: Paper, markers
Purpose: Have participants recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships between friends, partners, children, and teachers.
Directions:
Split participants into four groups. Have each group list signs of a healthy and unhealthy relationship between each relationship.
Group 1: Romantic
Group 2: Parent-child
Group 3: Teacher-student
Group 4: Friend-Friend
Share and discuss answers.
Activity 4: 5 Love Languages
Time: 15 minutes
Supplies: Quizzes, pencils, pens
Purpose: Have participants about the different ways to show love relating to the 5 love languages.
Directions: Discuss the 5 love languages and have participants take a quiz.
1) Words of Affirmation: Compliments mean so much to you. Hearing “I love you” has great meaning to you and hearing the reasons for their love makes you happy. Insults may not easily be forgotten.
2) Quality Time: Spending time together, with undivided attention, shows “I love you.” It is important to have them there for you, with no distractions. It may hurt when they don’t listen, dates are postpones, or they become distracted.
3) Receiving Gifts: Focuses on the thoughts and love shown behind receiving a gift. By receiving gifts you feel cared for, recognized, and prized for your sacrifices. Missing a birthday or anniversary would be disastrous.
4) Acts of Service: Easing the burdens of others by volunteering “to do that for you.” Cleaning and performing service speaks wonders. Laziness hurts a person with this love language.
5) Physical touch: Likes hugs, holding hands, pats on the back, or a touch of the arm, shoulder, or face show love, care, and excitement. Neglect or abuse can be destructive to this love language.
Have participants take the 5 love languages quiz and discuss results.
Work Cited:
5 love language quiz and info
Signs of abusive relationship
How to have a successful, healthy relationship, unhealthy relationship
Appendix E
Stress and Relaxation
Women’s Health Workshop 4
Rosa Portillo, Sarah Bauch, Candice Carlson, Nina Saadati
Icebreaker: Benefits of Relaxation Techniques (5 minutes)
Purpose: To get participants to understand the many benefits of relaxation techniques.
Materials: (Optional)
• Pens, markers, pencils, dry erase markers, chalk
• Notepad, or
• Whiteboard/Chalkboard
Directions:
1. Have participants brainstorm ideas of what some benefits are. You may want participants to write their ideas down on a notepad, or on a whiteboard/chalkboard.
2. Discuss the following information with participants:
The benefits of relaxation techniques -
When faced with numerous responsibilities and tasks or the demands of an illness, relaxation techniques may take a back seat in your life. But that means you might miss out on the health benefits of relaxation.
Practicing relaxation techniques can reduce stress symptoms by:
• Slowing your heart rate
• Lowering blood pressure
• Slowing your breathing rate
• Increasing blood flow to major muscles
• Reducing muscle tension and chronic pain
• Improving concentration
• Reducing anger and frustration
• Boosting confidence to handle problems
To get the most benefit, use relaxation techniques along with other positive coping methods, such as exercising, getting enough sleep, and reaching out to supportive family and friends (Mayo Clinic, 2011).
Activity 1: Your Best Self (10 minutes)
Purpose: Discuss how you feel when you are not stressed. When people are not stressed, they are more likely to be at their best in all aspects of life.
Materials:
• 1 ball with phrases written on it.
Directions:
1. Write the following phrases all over a ball:
- I feel happiest when…
- I have fun by…
- I feel calm when…
- I relax by…
- I enjoy…
- I use my free time to…
2. For safety purposes, have participants stand for this activity.
3. Throw the ball to one individual to catch.
4. Have the person who caught the ball finish the phrase that is closest to her right thumb.
5. Continue doing this for about 7 minutes.
6. Finish the activity with a discussion about:
-Why we do all of these things:
-How we feel when we are not stressed
-How we feel when we take time to relax
Activity 2: Self-Massage (5-10 minutes)
Purpose: To use massage as a personal relaxation method. With this activity, participants will learn a simple technique they can use to relax when they do not have a lot a free time.
Materials:
• No materials are necessary for this activity.
Directions:
1. Instruct participants to do the following:
• Place both hands on your shoulders and neck.
• Squeeze with your fingers and palms.
• Rub vigorously, keeping shoulders relaxed.
• Wrap one hand around the other forearm.
• Squeeze the muscles with thumb and fingers.
• Move up and down from your elbow to fingertips and back again.
• Repeat with other arm.
(Stamos Kovacs, 2011)
2. While participants practice self-massage, emphasize how a simple technique like this can help relieve stress.
Activity 3: Visualization (10 minutes)
Purpose: To form mental images for the purpose of relaxation. Participants will use their imagination to create a mental image of a setting they perceive as relaxing.
Materials:
• Paper
• Pens, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, markers
Directions:
1. Ensure that the room is quiet, and conducive to relaxation.
2. Explain that in this technique, participants will “form mental images to take a visual journey to peaceful, calming place or situation” (Mayo Clinic, 2011).
3. Instruct participants to get into the most comfortable position possible and to close their eyes.
4. Tell participants to begin imagining their personal paradise. Whatever it may be – a mountain scene, a sandy beach, an open field – allow them to begin imagining their paradise.
5. Ask the participants to use as many senses as possible – sight, smell, touch, sound.
“If you imagine relaxing at the ocean, for instance, think about such things as the smell of salt water, the sound of crashing waves and the warmth of the sun on your body” (Mayo Clinic, 2011).
6. After 5 minutes of visualization, ask participants to draw, or descriptively write what their paradise looks light.
7. Conclude this activity by explaining that these pictures/descriptions can help reflect back to their personal paradise.
Activity 4: Mantra Meditation (10-15 minutes)
Purpose: To practice mantra meditation for the purpose of relaxation.
Materials:
• No materials are necessary for this activity.
Directions:
1. Take about 2-3 minutes to explain the purpose and benefits of meditation. This includes:
2. Instruct participants to choose any word they would like as their mantra. A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that you repeat over and over, as a focus point, to help you relax. Examples include, but are not limited to: peaceful, calm, serene, relax, still, soothe, or I am peaceful, I am calm, I am serene, etc.
3. Ensure the room is quiet, and conducive to relaxation. It is encouraged that the lights are turned off for this activity.
4. Tell participants to get into the most comfortable position as possible, allow them to sit in a chair, or lay on a floor. They may also want to loosen any tight clothing and remove jewelry and/or glasses.
5. Instruct participants to close their eyes and take a couple of slow, deep breaths.
6. After about 30 seconds, instruct participants to slowly begin repeating their mantra. Repetition should slightly mirror the participants’ slow, deep breaths.
7. Explain to participants that if their mind begins to wander, simply acknowledge the thoughts, and passively return their focus to repeating their mantra.
8. Allow participants to continue this process for about 10 minutes.
9. After 10 minutes, instruct participants to slowly return their minds to full consciousness allow about 2-3 minutes to do so, do not hurry to end meditation.
Works Cited
Mayo Clinic. (2011, May 19). Stress Management. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from Mayo Clinic:
Stamos Kovacs, J. (2011, October 21). Blissing Out: 10 Relaxation Techniques to Reduce Stress On-the-Spot. Retrieved October 26, 2011, from WebMD:
Appendix F
References
A Dictionary of Nursing. (2008). quantitative research. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from :
Healthy People. (2010). Healthy People 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from Healthy People 2010:
Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2010). Writing Quantitative Research Questions. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Educational Research Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches:
Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. Practical researchplanning and design. (9 ed., pp. 135, 148,153-154). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
McKenzie, J. F., Neiger, B. L., & Thackeray, R. (2009). Planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. (5 ed., p. 362). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
The Pell Institute. (2011). Analyze Quantitative Data. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Evaluation Toolkit:
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